GPGCONF(1) GNU Privacy Guard GPGCONF(1)NAMEgpgconf - Modify .gnupg home directories
SYNOPSISgpgconf [options] --list-components
gpgconf [options] --list-options component
gpgconf [options] --change-options component
DESCRIPTION
The gpgconf is a utility to automatically and reasonable safely query
and modify configuration files in the `.gnupg' home directory. It is
designed not to be invoked manually by the user, but automatically by
graphical user interfaces (GUI). ([Please note that currently no lock‐
ing is done, so concurrent access should be avoided. There are some
precautions to avoid corruption with concurrent usage, but results may
be inconsistent and some changes may get lost. The stateless design
makes it difficult to provide more guarantees.])
gpgconf provides access to the configuration of one or more components
of the GnuPG system. These components correspond more or less to the
programs that exist in the GnuPG framework, like GnuPG, GPGSM, DirMngr,
etc. But this is not a strict one-to-one relationship. Not all con‐
figuration options are available through gpgconf. gpgconf provides a
generic and abstract method to access the most important configuration
options that can feasibly be controlled via such a mechanism.
gpgconf can be used to gather and change the options available in each
component, and can also provide their default values. gpgconf will
give detailed type information that can be used to restrict the user's
input without making an attempt to commit the changes.
gpgconf provides the backend of a configuration editor. The configura‐
tion editor would usually be a graphical user interface program, that
allows to display the current options, their default values, and allows
the user to make changes to the options. These changes can then be
made active with gpgconf again. Such a program that uses gpgconf in
this way will be called GUI throughout this section.
COMMANDS
One of the following commands must be given:
--list-components
List all components. This is the default command used if none
is specified.
--check-programs
List all available backend programs and test whether they are
runnable.
--list-options component
List all options of the component component.
--change-options component
Change the options of the component component.
--apply-defaults
Update all configuration files with values taken from the global
configuration file (usually `/etc/gnupg/gpgconf.conf').
--list-config [filename]
List the global configuration file in a colon separated format.
If filename is given, check that file instead.
--check-config [filename]
Run a syntax check on the global configuration file. If file‐
name is given, check that file instead.
OPTIONS
The following options may be used:
-v
--verbose
Outputs additional information while running. Specifically,
this extends numerical field values by human-readable descrip‐
tions.
-r
--runtime
Only used together with --change-options. If one of the modi‐
fied options can be changed in a running daemon process, signal
the running daemon to ask it to reparse its configuration file
after changing.
This means that the changes will take effect at run-time, as far
as this is possible. Otherwise, they will take effect at the
next start of the respective backend programs.
USAGE
The command --list-components will list all components that can be con‐
figured with gpgconf. Usually, one component will correspond to one
GnuPG-related program and contain the options of that programs configu‐
ration file that can be modified using gpgconf. However, this is not
necessarily the case. A component might also be a group of selected
options from several programs, or contain entirely virtual options that
have a special effect rather than changing exactly one option in one
configuration file.
A component is a set of configuration options that semantically belong
together. Furthermore, several changes to a component can be made in
an atomic way with a single operation. The GUI could for example pro‐
vide a menu with one entry for each component, or a window with one
tabulator sheet per component.
The command argument --list-components lists all available components,
one per line. The format of each line is:
name:description:pgmname:
name This field contains a name tag of the component. The name tag
is used to specify the component in all communication with gpg‐
conf. The name tag is to be used verbatim. It is thus not in
any escaped format.
description
The string in this field contains a human-readable description
of the component. It can be displayed to the user of the GUI
for informational purposes. It is percent-escaped and local‐
ized.
pgmname
The string in this field contains the absolute name of the pro‐
gram's file. It can be used to unambiguously invoke that pro‐
gram. It is percent-escaped.
Example:
$ gpgconf--list-components
gpg:GPG for OpenPGP:/usr/local/bin/gpg2:
gpg-agent:GPG Agent:/usr/local/bin/gpg-agent:
scdaemon:Smartcard Daemon:/usr/local/bin/scdaemon:
gpgsm:GPG for S/MIME:/usr/local/bin/gpgsm:
dirmngr:Directory Manager:/usr/local/bin/dirmngr:
Checking programs
The command --check-programs is similar to --list-components but works
on backend programs and not on components. It runs each program to
test wether it is installed and runnable. This also includes a syntax
check of all config file options of the program.
The command argument --check-programs lists all available programs, one
per line. The format of each line is:
name:description:pgmname:avail:okay:cfgfile:line:error:
name This field contains a name tag of the program which is identical
to the name of the component. The name tag is to be used verba‐
tim. It is thus not in any escaped format. This field may be
empty to indicate a continuation of error descriptions for the
last name. The description and pgmname fields are then also
empty.
description
The string in this field contains a human-readable description
of the component. It can be displayed to the user of the GUI
for informational purposes. It is percent-escaped and local‐
ized.
pgmname
The string in this field contains the absolute name of the pro‐
gram's file. It can be used to unambiguously invoke that pro‐
gram. It is percent-escaped.
avail The boolean value in this field indicates whether the program is
installed and runnable.
okay The boolean value in this field indicates whether the program's
config file is syntactically okay.
cfgfile
If an error occured in the configuraion file (as indicated by a
false value in the field okay), this field has the name of the
failing configuration file. It is percent-escaped.
line If an error occured in the configuration file, this field has
the line number of the failing statement in the configuration
file. It is an unsigned number.
error If an error occured in the configuration file, this field has
the error text of the failing statement in the configuration
file. It is percent-escaped and localized.
In the following example the dirmngr is not runnable and the
configuration file of scdaemon is not okay.
$ gpgconf--check-programs
gpg:GPG for OpenPGP:/usr/local/bin/gpg2:1:1:
gpg-agent:GPG Agent:/usr/local/bin/gpg-agent:1:1:
scdaemon:Smartcard Daemon:/usr/local/bin/scdaemon:1:0:
gpgsm:GPG for S/MIME:/usr/local/bin/gpgsm:1:1:
dirmngr:Directory Manager:/usr/local/bin/dirmngr:0:0:
Listing options
Every component contains one or more options. Options may be gathered
into option groups to allow the GUI to give visual hints to the user
about which options are related.
The command argument lists all options (and the groups they belong to)
in the component component, one per line. component must be the string
in the field name in the output of the --list-components command.
There is one line for each option and each group. First come all
options that are not in any group. Then comes a line describing a
group. Then come all options that belong into each group. Then comes
the next group and so on. There does not need to be any group (and in
this case the output will stop after the last non-grouped option).
The format of each line is:
name:flags:level:description:type:alt-type:argname:default:argdef:value
name This field contains a name tag for the group or option. The
name tag is used to specify the group or option in all communi‐
cation with gpgconf. The name tag is to be used verbatim. It
is thus not in any escaped format.
flags The flags field contains an unsigned number. Its value is the
OR-wise combination of the following flag values:
group (1)
If this flag is set, this is a line describing a group
and not an option.
The following flag values are only defined for options (that is, if the
group flag is not used).
optional arg (2)
If this flag is set, the argument is optional. This is
never set for type 0 (none) options.
list (4)
If this flag is set, the option can be given multiple
times.
runtime (8)
If this flag is set, the option can be changed at run‐
time.
default (16)
If this flag is set, a default value is available.
default desc (32)
If this flag is set, a (runtime) default is available.
This and the default flag are mutually exclusive.
no arg desc (64)
If this flag is set, and the optional arg flag is set,
then the option has a special meaning if no argument is
given.
no change (128)
If this flag is set, gpgconf ignores requests to change
the value. GUI frontends should grey out this option.
Note, that manual changes of the configuration files are
still possible.
level This field is defined for options and for groups. It contains
an unsigned number that specifies the expert level under which
this group or option should be displayed. The following expert
levels are defined for options (they have analogous meaning for
groups):
basic (0)
This option should always be offered to the user.
advanced (1)
This option may be offered to advanced users.
expert (2)
This option should only be offered to expert users.
invisible (3)
This option should normally never be displayed, not even
to expert users.
internal (4)
This option is for internal use only. Ignore it.
The level of a group will always be the lowest level of all options it
contains.
description
This field is defined for options and groups. The string in
this field contains a human-readable description of the option
or group. It can be displayed to the user of the GUI for infor‐
mational purposes. It is percent-escaped and localized.
type This field is only defined for options. It contains an unsigned
number that specifies the type of the option's argument, if any.
The following types are defined:
Basic types:
none (0)
No argument allowed.
string (1)
An unformatted string.
int32 (2)
A signed number.
uint32 (3)
An unsigned number.
Complex types:
pathname (32)
A string that describes the pathname of a file. The file
does not necessarily need to exist.
ldap server (33)
A string that describes an LDAP server in the format:
hostname:port:username:password:base_dn
key fingerprint (34)
A string with a 40 digit fingerprint specifying a cer‐
tificate.
pub key (35)
A string that describes a certificate by user ID, key ID
or fingerprint.
sec key (36)
A string that describes a certificate with a key by user
ID, key ID or fingerprint.
More types will be added in the future. Please see the alt-type field
for information on how to cope with unknown types.
alt-type
This field is identical to type, except that only the types 0 to
31 are allowed. The GUI is expected to present the user the
option in the format specified by type. But if the argument
type type is not supported by the GUI, it can still display the
option in the more generic basic type alt-type. The GUI must
support all the defined basic types to be able to display all
options. More basic types may be added in future versions. If
the GUI encounters a basic type it doesn't support, it should
report an error and abort the operation.
argname
This field is only defined for options with an argument type
type that is not 0. In this case it may contain a percent-
escaped and localised string that gives a short name for the
argument. The field may also be empty, though, in which case a
short name is not known.
default
This field is defined only for options for which the default or
default desc flag is set. If the default flag is set, its for‐
mat is that of an option argument (see: [Format conventions],
for details). If the default value is empty, then no default is
known. Otherwise, the value specifies the default value for
this option. If the default desc flag is set, the field is
either empty or contains a description of the effect if the
option is not given.
argdef This field is defined only for options for which the optional
arg flag is set. If the no arg desc flag is not set, its format
is that of an option argument (see: [Format conventions], for
details). If the default value is empty, then no default is
known. Otherwise, the value specifies the default argument for
this option. If the no arg desc flag is set, the field is
either empty or contains a description of the effect of this
option if no argument is given.
value This field is defined only for options. Its format is that of
an option argument. If it is empty, then the option is not
explicitely set in the current configuration, and the default
applies (if any). Otherwise, it contains the current value of
the option. Note that this field is also meaningful if the
option itself does not take a real argument (in this case, it
contains the number of times the option appears).
Changing options
The command to change the options of the component component to the
specified values. component must be the string in the field name in
the output of the --list-components command. You have to provide the
options that shall be changed in the following format on standard
input:
name:flags:new-value
name This is the name of the option to change. name must be the
string in the field name in the output of the --list-options
command.
flags The flags field contains an unsigned number. Its value is the
OR-wise combination of the following flag values:
default (16)
If this flag is set, the option is deleted and the
default value is used instead (if applicable).
new-value
The new value for the option. This field is only defined if the
default flag is not set. The format is that of an option argu‐
ment. If it is empty (or the field is omitted), the default
argument is used (only allowed if the argument is optional for
this option). Otherwise, the option will be set to the speci‐
fied value.
Examples:
To set the force option, which is of basic type none (0):
$ echo 'force:0:1' | gpgconf--change-options dirmngr
To delete the force option:
$ echo 'force:16:' | gpgconf--change-options dirmngr
The --runtime option can influence when the changes take effect.
Listing global options
Sometimes it is useful for applications to look at the global options
file `gpgconf.conf'. The colon separated listing format is record ori‐
ented and uses the first field to identify the record type:
k This describes a key record to start the definition of a new
ruleset for a user/group. The format of a key record is:
k:user:group:
user This is the user field of the key. It is percent
escaped. See the definition of the gpgconf.conf format
for details.
group This is the group field of the key. It is percent
escaped.
r This describes a rule record. All rule records up to the next
key record make up a rule set for that key. The format of a
rule record is:
r:::component:option:flags:value:
component
This is the component part of a rule. It is a plain
string.
option This is the option part of a rule. It is a plain string.
flag This is the flags part of a rule. There may be only one
flag per rule but by using the same component and option,
several flags may be assigned to an option. It is a
plain string.
value This is the optional value for the option. It is a per‐
cent escaped string with a single quotation mark to indi‐
cate a string. The quotation mark is only required to
distinguish between no value specified and an empty
string.
Unknown record typs should be ignored. Note that there is intention‐
ally no feature to change the global option file through gpgconf.
FILES
/etc/gnupg/gpgconf.conf
If this file exists, it is processed as a global configuration
file.
A commented example can be found in the `examples' directory
of
the distribution.
SEE ALSOgpg(1), gpgsm(1), gpg-agent(1), scdaemon(1), dirmngr(1)
The full documentation for this tool is maintained as a Texinfo manual.
If GnuPG and the info program are properly installed at your site, the
command
info gnupg
should give you access to the complete manual including a menu struc‐
ture and an index.
GnuPG 2.0.9 2012-09-27 GPGCONF(1)
